KAPA‘A — Kapa‘a High School’s boys and girls volleyball teams snagged their first wins of the season with victories over Kaua‘i High School Wednesday, preparing them for their rematch against Waimea (2-0) tomorrow night. Defending Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation and Division
KAPA‘A — Kapa‘a High School’s boys and girls volleyball teams snagged their first wins of the season with victories over Kaua‘i High School Wednesday, preparing them for their rematch against Waimea (2-0) tomorrow night.
Defending Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation and Division II Boys State Champions, Kapa‘a (1-1) put Kaua‘i (0-2) away in three straight games, 25-22, 25-17 and 25-14.
The trio of Danny Rodrick, John Beralas and Chance Bukoski posted a combined eight service aces and 20 kills.
Kaua‘i High’s Travis Stine did his share to keep the Red Raiders on the board with seven kills overall.
Kapa‘a took a commanding lead with Rodrick serving up five of his aces in Game 1. After letting Kaua‘i make it close in the end, the Warriors turned up the heat in Game 2, with Beralas and Bukoski recording most of the team’s kills and leading the way to an eight-point win.
Trailing 14-3 in Game 3, a sideout gave Red Raider Caysee Fujimoto the serve, but any chance at capturing the momentum was quickly shot down by Kapa‘a’s Chris Yee. Rodrick eventually served out the match to clinch the win for the Warriors.
At the end of the match, Kaua‘i’s Stine gave credit to where credit was due.
“They’re really good,” Stine said. “I have to talk to my team more. Chance is a big hitter and Daniel can do everything.”
Kaua‘i’s head coach Corey Morishita also praised the opposing team but said his team needs to get better.
“They played well. But it’s still the beginning. We have time but we have to get better,” Morishita said.
Kapa‘a’s coach Merrill Carvalho was just glad his team pulled together.
“I’m happy they came back this way,” Carvalho said. “We didn’t have such a great start with Waimea, but I’m happy they came back like this. We still have a lot of work to do. It’s good to celebrate this win, but Kaua‘i High’s not going to back down. They’re going to come back stomping again.”
Over on the girl’s side, Kapa‘a’s Poe Gantt seemed almost unstoppable as she registered eight service aces, 13 kills and was half of three big double blocks as Kapa‘a (1-1) defeated Kaua‘i (0-2) in four grueling games, 25-20, 23-25, 25-17 and 25-18.
“Gantt’s definitely our go-to girl, there’s no secret about that,” said assistant coach Asley Montalvo. “She takes care of business, that’s for sure. But we like to move the ball around and mix it up a little.”
Teammate Brittney Carvalho contributed her fair share of big hits registering two service aces and 16 kills. Maliana Hamada found herself half of four huge double blocks to keep Kaua‘i from scoring.
“It was a great game for sure. It was great to see them come together to play this well,” said Montalvo. “We didn’t play so well against Waimea in the season opener so it was good to see them back in their game.”
Game 1 began with the starting lineup huddled together for an opening cheer. The cheering continued throughout the first half with Kapa‘a taking a commanding lead early, forcing Kaua‘i coach Rich Roberts into a time-out.
The Red Raiders came back swinging, keeping the rallies close, but not close enough, and the Warriors took the first game by five.
In Game 2, Kaua‘i’s Kara Cummings rose to the challenge and served up four straight aces for an early lead. She ended up with six aces in the game and 10 overall.
Kapa‘a’s Gantt tried to take it back with a big kill on Cumming’s last serve, but Kaua‘i fought to stay on top. Trailing 10-4, Kapa‘a called a time-out to regroup.
As the two teams rallied back and forth, it was Hamada’s one and only service ace of the match that tied it up at 12 all. More long rallies ensued. Kapa‘a finally wrangled the lead, only to have Cummings and Kaua‘i take it right back with a major kill, propelling the Warriors to a two-point win.
Tied at one game apiece, Kapa‘a dominated the blocking game and took Game 3 in quick fashion, 25-17.
The deciding game wasn’t much longer.
Kapa‘a out-served and out-hit Kaua‘i, though a solo block from Auika Muragin gave Kaua‘i possession of the ball for a brief moment as they tried to close the gap.
Kapa‘a once again regained control and Gantt found herself in position to close out the match. In what seemed like an attempt to slow Gantt down, Red Raider coach Roberts called a time-out on match point.
That last-minute attempt proved futile. In her final kill of the night, Gantt put Kaua‘i away with a bang.
• Lanaly Cabalo, lifestyle writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 237) or lcabalo@kauaipubco.com.
